Elastic-fluid turbine



June 16, 1925. 1,542,402 v H. A. ME ISSNER ELASTIC FLUID TURBINE Filed Dec. 1' 1924 H H. Heissner WlTNESS ES; INVENTOR ATTORNEY ill Patented June 16, 1925.

1,542,402 UNITED]STATES BATENT ,OFFRQE a HERMAN A. ME QLSSN ER, Orsrifriarnzienurae, FLORIDA, Assienon TO wns'rmenousn ELECTRICeMaNUrAoTUaINs COMPANY, a. conronnr o'nor;rE NsYLvamA.

nnesrrc rnnrn running I vApplication filed December 17,;1924;- :SerialN'o. 756,423.

To all whom it. may concern."

,Be it known that I, HERMAN A. Mn1ssNER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of St. Petersburg,.in thecounty of Hillsborough and Stateof Florida, have inventeda new and useful Improvement in ElastieFluid Turbines,ot which the following is a specification.

My inventionre lates to elastic fluid turbines, more; specifically, to thebladil'ig thereof, and has for itsobject the provision of a blade lashing, whiclrshall be simpleof design, easily,applied,-and whichshall be effective to brace the blades and to minimize thejvibra'tion,thereof. V

Apparatus made in accordance/with my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forminga part ofthis specification, in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view, ofa turbine rotor with afrow of blades mounted thereon and having'my improved lashing means applied thereto; F 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showingthe means Qforsecursing the lashin to the bladesyF i 3 is anenlar ed end View of awedging ineans used in my invention; Fig. 4 illustrates amodified form of my invention; :Fig. 5 iSZElli enlarged end view of. the wedge I means used? with the modification illustrated in Fig. 4,, and Fig. 6 illustrates a further: modification .of my invention. a, 1

, As is wellunderStOQd'in theart to which my invention relates, it isnecessary to apply some form of bracing or lashing totnrbine blades, especially to relativelylongblades, in order to minimize vibration thereofand toadd strength to the bladingstructnre.. f lurbine. blade "lashing, as heretofore known tome, has been secured tostheturbine blades either by, means of brazing or solderinglthe lashingto the blades; or tbe; lashing,usually in the form of wire, has been. threaded througlr holes, inthe blades and; after assembly, the lashing has, been deformed by some mechanical means between blades in a row in; order .to engage the lashing witlr the ..blacles. Difliculties have been encountered with the first-mentioned method, especiallywithblades of certain Compositions, due to the fact that the material employed in the blades does not readily lend itself to the process of soldering or brazing. Furthermore, the heat applied to the blade, in order to solder or braze'thelashing thereto, may have an injurious effect on the mechanical properties of the blade. Difliculties have also been encountered in deforming lashing between blades in a. row so as'to-tightly engage the blades and the lashing at the point of juncturethereof, due to the inaccessibility of the lashingafter assembly with the blades.

It -has;also been" proposed to provide i11- divi'dual lashing pieces between adjacent blades and rivet or otherwise secure the lashing pieces to the bladesafter" assembly. While this method provides: a. very depend: able form of lashing its applicationzis manifestly difficult and expensive.

In accordance with my invention; I provide each of the blades with one or more holes and thread the lashing wire through the holes. Theholes in the blades are made somewhat larger in diameter than the diameter of the-lashing wire and the lashing wire iswedged in the blades after assembly. The wedge which I employ is in the form of a split ring which may be sprung over the'wire after assembly and driven or otherwise forced between the blades and the lashing wire, aswill be more particularly explained hereinafter in this specification. l Referring now to the drawingsfor a more detailed descriptionof my invention I showin Fig. la fragment of a blade carrying 'elementjlO such, as a rotor,havi-ng a row working temperatures. -At 12 I show a seg' ment of sixbla-de's having my improved lashing. means applied thereto- In' this ex ample I show two rows of lashing. 13 and let applied to the blades, though the number of rows of lashing will depend upon the length ofthe blades and the conditions of speed, temperature, etc, under which they operate. An enlarged view ofthe lashing secured to a blade is shown in Fig. 2.

Each of the blades is provided with a hole 15 having a Wall inclining inwardly from each side. The lashing wire is shown at 16. As may be seen, the lashing wire 16 is reduced in section where it passes through the blades and is given a shape complementar'y to the hole in the blade. The hole 15 is made larger in diameter than the diameter of the lashing wire 16 in order to accommodate a wedge employed to hold the lashing and blades rigid. with respect to each other.

After being threaded through the blades a split wedge ring 18 of frusto-conical shape, as illustrated in Fig. 3, is sprung over the wire on each side of the blade and is driven into the hole in the blade between the lashing and the blade until the lashing and the blade are firmly engaged by the wedge 18. The Wedge ring 18 is made of resilient material and has an outside diameter somewhat larger than the diameter of the hole 1-5, so that it more tightly engages the side of the hole by reason of its resiliency. Both the lashing wire and the interior of the wedge ring 18 may be roughened as shown at 19 in order to secure a better engagement therebetween. e

In Figs. 4 and I show the lashing wire as being threaded at 21 Where it passes through the hole in the blade. The wedge ring 18 is similarly provided with interior threads. In assembling the blading and lashing in accordance with this modification of my invention, I thread the lashing Wire through the hole in "the blade, spring the rings 18 over the lashing wire 16 and screw the wedge rings 18 from each side of the blade over the lashing wire 16 until they tigli'tly engage the blades.

In Fig. 6, I show a further modified form of my invention in which a hole 22 having its wall inclined in one direction only, is

provided through the blade. In this modification, a single split wedge ring 18" is sprung over the lashing wire 16 and driven into the h'ole22 around the lashing wire 16 until the lashing wire and the blade are tightly engaged by the wedge ring. During the driving operation the wedge ring 18" is bent OVl" at the opposite end flbi'n which it is driven as shown at 23, thus forming'a sturdy unitary structure.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have invented an improved method of securing lashing to turbine blades which is 'eili'cient, easy of application and which has no injurious efi'ect upon the blading structure.

While I ha e shown my invention in several forms, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susce tible of various other changes and modi cations, without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

\Vhat I claim is:

'1. Means for securing a lashing wire to a turbine blade having a hole therein comprising a wedge adapted to engage with the lashing wire and with the side of the hole in the blade.

2. Means for securing a lashing wire to a turbine blade ha ing a hole therein, said hole having inclined walls, comprising a resilient Wedge-shaped ring surrounding the lashing wire and engaging the wire and the side of the hole in the blade.

3. Means for securing a lashing wire to a turbine blade having a hole there-in, said hole having inclined walls, comprising a wedge-shaped ring surrounding the lashing wire and driven into the hole so as to engage the lashing wire and the side of the hole in the blade.

4. In a turbine, a blade-carrying element, a blade mounted thereon and having a hole through an intermediate point thereof, a lashing wire threaded through the hole, and wedge means between the Wire and thiq blade.

'5. In a turbine, a blade-carrying element, a plurality of blades mounted in a row on the blade-carrying element, each of said blades having a hole through an intermediate point tl'i'ereo'f, a lashing wire threaded through the holes of adjacent blades in a row, and Wedge means between the lashing wire and the blades.

6. In a turbine, 21 blade-carrying element, a plurality of blades mounted on said element, each of said blades hai' ing a hole throu h an intermediate point thereof, l'aslr ing means extending through the hole, and hollow homo-c nical shaped wedge means embracing the lashing means and tightly engaging the blade and the lashing means.

7, Ina turbine, a blade-carrying element, a plurality of blades mounted on said element, 'each of said blade's having 'a hole through an intermediate point thereof, lashing means extending through the hole, and resilient wedge shaped rings embracing the lashing means and engaging the lashing means and the blade.

In testimony whereof, have hereunto subscribed my name this 21st day of November, 1....

HERMAN A. MEISSNER. 

